>> To he's of us, the sun is a
steady never-changing source of
heat and light but to scientists
it's a
dana:ic star constantly in flux
sending energy out into space.
Right now experts say it's in
itself most active period in two
decades.
For us, the signs are more
likely to be more northern
lights civil over a wilder area
and perhaps disruptions to radio
and satellite communications.
The person in charge of
coordinating the government's
response to these potential
descriptions is bill murtah.
Program director for noaa's
space center.
Peak activity, what's going on,
what's the activity?
>> So, the sun is like the Earth
in one way.
It's a big mag innocent --
magnate.
It's got a big north pole and a
big south pole.
But over the course of seven
years, it does a reversal of the
polarity.
The sun is a big ball of
electrically -- charged gas,
turning and rotating and the
magnetic fields turn and twist
and essentially it's a rotation
of that magnetic field over an
11-year period and right in the
middle of this process these sun
spots emerge and they're
localized magnetic stress areas
on the sun that can produce big
eruptions and similar flares,
Corona mass,
>> S, minutic particle blasts,
all blast radiation and energy
towards the Earth and can affect
a lot of the different
technologies we rely on for
everything we do.
Right now we're in the very
middle of this 11-year reversal
process and we refer to it as
solar maximum, being the period
of most similar activity where
we're seeing the most sun spots.
That's what's been happening
over the next couple of years
and will happen over the next
several years where we'll see
lots of sun spots and eruptions
that will be affecting lots of
our technologies here on Earth
but, of course, producing the
beautiful northern and southern
lights as well.
>> Are some of these flares more
active than others?
>> Yes, it's like hurricane
season.
Some hurricane seasons very
active and'res -- others, not so
much.
Same thing with the sun spot
cycle.
We've got some very big cycle.
We've been measuring these sun
spot cycles since 1755.
The biggest one was the one in a
peak could in 1953.
The last couple of cycles quite
a bit smaller so they do range
in intensity.
It's 11 years average but
sometimes as quick as a
nine-year cycle and sometimes up
to 14-year cycles.
>> How could you measure and
track what's going on?
>> Back in the old days --
essentially since galileo and
others invent the tell coach is
we've been watching the sun,
projecting the image of a sun on
a a white light board where you
can see the record of sun spots.
So that dates all the way back
to 1755
that's helped us establish that
average 11-year cycle but, of
course, technology has evolved
tremendously over the last 20,
30, 40 years so now we have all
sorts of instruments in space
taking pictures of the sun,
monitoring the sun's surface,
monitoring the Corona.
And then a million miles out,
one spacecraft and closer to
Earth more measuring the sun and
all sorts of instruments
measuring different types of
emissions from the sun and how
they're affecting the technology
and the Earth's atmosphere.
>> Tell us more about the
practical effects on Earth and
maybe even in space?
>> These eruptions, when they
occur there's all sorts of
emissions and whether a flare
occurs there's a blast of radio
magnetic radiation.
It can affect aircraft,
communications.
Aircraft communicating with the
ground can have interference.
We get these big energetic blast
of particles following soon
after the flare.
They can affect satellites.
They affect the astronauts in
space, which is a big thing
going guard supporting the
artemus missions and going back
to the moon.
When that Corona mass ejection
hits Earth's mag nettic field,
it produces unwanted current
that can flow into if power
grilled and cause big problems.
Worst case, it can provide a
blackout.
What we have to do in the
prediction center is Boulder is
get out the alerts throughout
the United States and Kan so
they can take action during
these big gio magnetic storms.
>> Some of these records go all
the way back to the 1th century.
Tell us about that.
>> I talked about hurricanes
earlier.
I'll do it again.
People know what hurricane
Katrina and sand and I and in
space we've had big events.
The Carrington event in 1858 was
an extraordinary eruption.
A scientist in England was
watching the sun and all of a
sudden he sees these big white
spots, he was looking at a major
flare and just 19 hours later,
that Corona mass ejection made
itself way to Earth, impacted
the Earth and it surprised a lot
of people.
You know, our friends up in the
north, Kan, Alaska and sand
Nava, they're used to seeing the
northern lights.
What was it light like in
September of 1859 when the folks
in Cuba and Central America
looked up and could see the
northern lights?
It was a powerful storm and even
the technology of today, the
tell grasp systems, big long
conductors, wires, lines,
causing all sorts of havoc.
It was an extraordinary event
and it is the one we fear today.
>> Bill, thank you very much.
It's fascinating.
>> It was a pleasure talking to
you.
Thank you.
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